In Quaking Hills

by Kate MacLeod

  “Where are the forks?” Scout asked.

  “Drawer on the end there,” he said, pointing vaguely. Scout found it on the second try.

  Bente came in through the hallway and headed to a sink set into the back wall. Her hands were already streaked with grease and she scrubbed at them with a little brush, looking repeatedly over her shoulder at Ken until he noticed her. He gave her a thumbs-up and went into the room where Reggie had left the cheese and emerged with a large covered bowl. Scout was just setting down the last of the forks as he unfastened the lid. The bowl contained a lumpy white and yellow mass.

  “Potato salad,” Ken told her. “Bente’s specialty. You’re going to love it.”

  “Mustard?” Scout asked, looking more closely at the streaks of yellow.

  “And egg,” Ken said.

  The others were taking seats around the table and Tucker tugged at Scout’s sleeve until she climbed over the bench to sit down next to him. Reggie sat down next to her, the dogs close behind him in case he had more cheese. Scout watched the others and mimicked their movements, loading up her burger with a rich, red slice of tomato, a thick slice of onion, and a generous stack of pickles. She squeezed a spiral of ketchup and another of mustard, then placed the other half of toasted bun on top of everything and pressed down until the condiments oozed out the sides. Then she took a bite.

  Bliss. Only slightly mitigated by the hot juices that stung a bit as they dripped down her chin. She ducked her head over her plate. Tucker handed her a napkin and she mumbled a thanks around a full mouthful of burger before mopping up her chin.

  “What do you think?” Reggie asked. Joelle, who was sitting across from her, paused before taking a second bite of her own burger to see how Scout would answer. Ken looked up from spooning a mountain of potato salad onto his plate. Even Bente’s eyes were on her. Scout felt her cheeks flush.

  “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever had,” Scout said through a mouth still half full of beef.

  “Told you,” Tucker said, taking another large bite of his own burger.

  “How come no one else has this?” Scout asked. “Even in the cities, I’ve never seen it anywhere.”

  “The governor has it all the time in his mansion,” Joelle said.

  “You stole this from the governor?” Scout asked after swallowing.

  “No, the bandits robbed the governor’s supply train,” Joelle said blithely. “We just robbed the bandits.”

  Ken laughed as he handed Joelle the bowl of potato salad. She smiled as she dished herself up a spoonful, then passed it down to Bente.

  “Isn’t that dangerous?” Scout asked.

  “Well, yeah,” Joelle admitted. “But we’re good at it. We’ve been doing it for years.”

  “You guys?” Scout asked, looking up and down the table.

  “Not just us,” Ken said. “We’re sort of the second generation. But this beef here was part of our first solo haul. In case we seem kind of proud of it.”

  Scout didn’t know how to answer that, so she just took another bite of her hamburger. She wasn’t sure if it was a taste worth risking her life for, but it came closer than anything else she had ever had, including her hands-down favorite beverage, jolo.

  “The bandits steal from the rich,” Joelle went on. “We steal from the bandits.”

  “And give to the poor?” Scout guessed.

  “In a way,” Joelle said.

  Tucker looked like he wanted to say more, but Joelle gave him a little shake of her head and he kept silent, accepting the bowl of potato salad from Bente and putting a large spoonful onto Scout’s plate. “Try that,” he said instead.

  Scout swallowed and took a drink of water to cleanse her palate. No glacier-melt water here, just the usual filtered stuff, but it got the job done. The salad was delightfully cold, creamy, and tangy. Potatoes she had had before, many times, but never like this.

  “That’s fantastic,” Scout said. Bente beamed at her.

  “Tell me you’re glad I talked you into this,” Tucker prompted.

  “Okay, I’m glad,” Scout relented. “Thanks.”

  Tucker grinned around a mouthful of burger.

  “So this place isn’t a town,” Scout guessed. “Is it like a family compound?”

  “Kind of,” Joelle said.

  “With a loose definition of family,” Tucker said.

  “So usually there are adults here too?” Scout asked.

  “A few,” Joelle said. “Most of them are working on a thing north of here. My father and uncle went out to take care of a different thing. They’re on their way back now. You’ll get to meet them.”

  “Okay,” Scout said hesitantly. She didn’t really mind Joelle’s vagueness about everyone’s activities. She just wasn’t sure she wanted to meet anybody else, particularly not an adult.

  “Scout spent the last solar storm underground with some messed-up adults,” Tucker said as if reading her mind.

  “Not just adults,” Scout said. “There were three tweens too.”

  “You didn’t tell me that bit,” Tucker said. “Did they get murdered too?”

  “Murdered?” Joelle asked, almost spitting out her drink of water.

  “Yeah,” Scout said. “But I didn’t feel bad about that. They were trained assassins, apparently.”

  “Girls?” Joelle asked, her voice hard.

  “Yeah,” Scout said, surprised by the question. Joelle and Ken were both nodding as if this confirmed some suspicion they had. “How did you know?”

  “We’ve been hearing rumors,” Joelle said.

  “Someone has one implanted in the governor’s mansion,” Ken added. Joelle glared at him and he gave an apologetic shrug.

  “Not anymore,” Scout said under her breath. “But wait—you heard this from bandits?”

  “Not exactly,” Joelle said evasively, but Scout remembered the equipment in the room Tucker had hustled her through. She had seen similar equipment in the underground compound where she had waited out the storm.

  “Are you guys in contact with Space Farers?” she asked.

  “I wouldn’t say contact exactly,” Ken said, but he stopped talking at a fierce look from Joelle.

  “Never mind,” Scout said. “Secrets. I get it. And I really don’t want to know.”

  “No offense,” Joelle said.

  “No, it’s fine. I’m leaving soon anyway. No need for me to get involved in any of it.”

  Joelle gave her an assessing look. Scout guessed she passed the test when Joelle took another bite of burger.

  “Can I ask one question, though?” Scout asked, caught off guard by her own words. She would swear she really didn’t want to know anything about whatever they were up to here, but there was one thing nagging her, one bit of unfinished business left on this, her home world. One last thread she’d like to have neatly snipped before she moved on.

  “You can ask,” Joelle said. “I don’t promise an answer.”

  “You guys are based here in the hills,” Scout said. “I’ve been over the hills loads of times running deliveries on my bike. I’ve seen signs of people about, sheltering in caves or leaving tracks on the paths, but I’ve never seen anyone. Not for sure.”

  “What’s your question?” Joelle asked.

  “Have any of you seen any sign of the rebels?” Scout asked.

  All their faces fell blank at once and Scout had the sinking feeling that she had just inadvertently breached the most rigid of all protocols. Was she not explaining herself correctly?

  “I mean, the rumors say they hide out in the hills, and I’ve been watching out for them for years. Sometimes I feel like they’re watching me when I pass through, but I’ve never seen anyone. Have you?”

  There was another long moment of silence, then all five of them burst into raucous laughter.

  “What?” Scout asked, feeling her cheeks heat. “There are no rebels, are there? That’s what’s funny?”

  “Oh, there are rebels,” Tucker said,
putting an arm around her shoulders to give her a good-natured jostling. “There are most definitely rebels in these here hills.”

  “Oh,” Scout said, slowly understanding. She had spent her whole life searching for the rebels, or more exactly hoping they would come and find her. And just when she had given that quest up, here she was feasting on food plundered from the governor’s personal supply train with a quintet of rebels.

  Joelle gave her a wink, then tipped her head back to put the last bit of burger in her mouth. The orange glow from the dying embers glinted off of something inside her tactical vest.

  Knives. Rows of throwing knives. Ken beside her half rose from the bench to reach for the bowl of potato salad and Scout saw what she had neglected to look for before: the gun tucked in a holster at his hip. His outfit matched Bente’s so completely she was certain Bente had one too. She looked at Reggie beside her. Even little Reggie had a knife on his belt. It looked like a utility blade, but that didn’t comfort Scout much.

  Tucker squeezed her close to his side briefly, then took his arm off her shoulders to help himself to a second burger. Scout wouldn’t consider that gesture so much a hug as a way of letting her know about the pistol he wore tucked into his pants.

  She had looked. She was certain he hadn’t been wearing that when they were in the hut standing over McFarlane’s dead body.

  But should she be so certain? She wished she had drawn her gun then and searched him. Or would that just have led to a gunfight?

  Scout touched her fingertips to where an ache was forming at her temple. Was she sure? She summoned the image back to mind and the gun wasn’t there. But now it was.

  “Hey, Scout,” Joelle said, reaching across the table to squeeze the hand still clutching a forkful of potato salad. “It’s okay. We’re all on the same side here, right?”

  “Right,” Scout said and mustered a smile. “Definitely. All on the same side.”

  Tucker’s gray eyes were looking over at her through the fringe of his lashes again, but this time her stomach just quaked with nausea.

  She had to get out of here.

  10

  Scout had intended to excuse herself at the first possible opportunity, but halfway through the second burger Tucker had talked her into, her eyelids started to droop. It had been an epically long day, and the combination of a full tummy and the warmth of the nearby fire were wooing her to sleep. If she had been in a chair she could have slouched against the back of it, but being on a bench as she was she just sort of slumped down like she was melting in place.

  She was technically still awake but sort of fading in and out of awareness as the others moved around her. They worked together to gather up the dishes and remaining food. It was hypnotic watching them. No one was giving any orders, they just each knew what needed to be done, picking up and handing things off like pieces of an elaborate clockwork.

  Ken was prattling on again. Scout thought he was talking about the repairs that needed to be done on the rover, but she couldn’t focus on the words.

  She snapped to full alertness when Joelle shrieked. It wasn’t a sustained scream, more a yelp of startled surprise, but Scout was instantly on her feet, her right hand on the handle of her gun.

  Then she saw what was in front of Joelle. Gert had dropped an impressively fat rat at her feet and was sitting gazing up at Joelle, waiting for praise. She looked a little confused about the shrieking, her tail wagging a little hesitantly, but she still seemed sure that she would be thanked for her contribution at any moment.

  Scout took her hand off her gun and ran it over her tired eyes.

  “Where did you find that?” Joelle asked Gert. Gert just wagged her tail even harder.

  “I’m sure there are plenty more where that came from,” Tucker said. “I told you they’ve been pouring up from below.” He picked up the rat by the tail and carried it to the composter. “They aren’t so much attracted to our food as fleeing—”

  “Yes, of course,” Joelle said, cutting him off with a significant look. More secrets.

  Scout yawned. “Where’s Bente?” she asked, belatedly noting their party was short a member.

  “She went to get your rover jacked up,” Ken said. “I was about to go help her. Join me?”

  “Sure,” Scout said, looking around for Shadow.

  “If you don’t mind, can we let your dogs run about for a bit?” Tucker asked. “They seem like good hunters, and our rodent population could stand a culling.”

  As if to prove his point, there was a sudden scuttle of dog nails over baked earth floor and Shadow came charging out of the room where they stored the food. He looked around in confusion, having lost whatever he was chasing. Gert went over to investigate and the two sniffed their way back into the room.

  “I can keep an eye on them for a little bit,” Reggie offered. “I’d like to watch them hunt.”

  “All right then,” Scout agreed.

  “I’ll join you in a minute,” Tucker said to Scout and Ken. Ken took Scout’s elbow to guide her back down that short hallway and, more importantly, to propel her through the equipment room as quickly as possible.

  Scout looked back over her shoulder. She had one brief glimpse of Reggie squatting on his heels, watching Shadow try to crawl under a shelving unit he couldn’t possibly squeeze under, and of Tucker speaking earnestly to a stern-faced Joelle, then she was back out in the chill air of the outer part of the compound.

  “You just loosened some bolts, right? It should be a quick fix?” Scout said as Ken turned the floodlights back on and they walked out to where the rover was parked. Now she could see why the two of them had guided her in so carefully when she had driven through the gate. She had thought it odd at the time, as there was plenty of space to avoid hitting either their bikes or the lights.

  But they hadn’t been worried she would hit something; rather they had been navigating her over something that had been covered with the ubiquitous red dust, some sort of jack. The rover was now hoisted a couple of meters off the ground, leaving enough room for Bente to work beneath, although tall as she was she still had to stoop.

  “You rode it pretty hard,” Ken said. “You might have done some damage. But no worries; we’ll take a look. No one yet has made a machine that Bente can’t fix. I’m more of a software guy, but since Bente strong-armed me into being her assistant I’ve been picking up some things. Getting pretty handy.”

  Bente looked up from where she was crouched over an open box of tools and gave Scout a little smile. Then she found what she needed and retreated once more to the shadows between the rover treads. Ken was running his hands along the rover exterior, inspecting for damage beyond what they had done themselves to the treads.

  “You broke some cameras,” Scout said.

  “Yeah, sorry. We don’t have spares of those,” Ken said. He looked back at her. “We did think you were the enemy.”

  “I know,” Scout said and let the matter drop. She’d be gone soon anyway, and the cameras she needed to drive were all still operational.

  Bente went back into the shadows under the rover. Ken peered into the toolbox, selected a tool, and started tightening something still attached to the tread mechanism. Bente slid over a box of extra bolts and Ken gave her a nod of thanks without stopping his motion.

  “So this place is the hidden rebel hideout?” Scout asked as she watched. She had figured out at least two things in the time she had spent here: that Bente never spoke and that Ken said too much. If she kept her tone casual, conversational, he might just tell her everything.

  “One of them,” Ken said. “This place was a mining concern back in the day, but I guess they ran out of whatever they were digging for. I don’t know, it was abandoned for decades until Joelle’s father and Bente’s uncle moved in when they were, like, our age.”

  “How many of you are there?”

  Ken looked up, his arm still working the ratchet that tightened the bolt, and gave her an apologetic grin. So he did have lim
its to what he would say. She grinned back, not wanting to seem like she was probing him for information, even though that was exactly what she was doing.

  “I get it,” she said. “You can’t tell me. But aren’t you looking for more recruits?”

  “Are you looking to be recruited?” Ken countered, looking her over as if to size up her potential.

  “No,” Scout said almost wistfully. A week ago that had been her fondest wish. But so much had changed in just a few days. “This just seems like a small operation for a group hoping to overthrow two different governments, and one of those out of reach up in space.”

  Ken stopped ratcheting and looked around as if seeing the compound with new eyes. “We do okay,” he said, resuming his work.

  “I’m asking too many questions,” Scout said.

  Ken shrugged, then moved on to the next bolt. “Perfectly understandable. I had a lot of questions too when I first got here.”

  “Tucker and I are both orphans. Is that the same for the rest of you too? I mean, I guess not for Joelle and Reggie.”

  “Right, Joelle and Reggie still have their dad. He runs things here,” Ken said. “Their mom was a rebel too. She was in one of the cities the day the sky fell.”

  “Doing rebel work?” Scout asked.

  “Actually, just visiting her family. Bad timing.” He gave her an exaggerated grimace, then went back to the box of bolts and grabbed several more before returning to the tread. “Now Bente doesn’t talk about her family outside of her uncle,” Ken said. “He’s out with Joelle’s dad right now. You’ll meet them both when they get here, I suppose. Bente came here around the same time I did. Her mother was Arvid’s sister, but that’s all I know about it. Something must have happened to her mother, but she doesn’t like to talk about it. I don’t even know if she has a dad or siblings or anything else.”

  Scout nodded in understanding. It seemed an odd distinction to make, that Bente didn’t like to talk about her childhood or family. Bente didn’t seem to talk about anything. But Scout kept her attention on Ken. “And you?”